The Sweetest Things
by theatregirl1
Summary: Lily was always different. But no matter waht, she knew she would have a very special fate.and she did, even for a witch...
1. How it all began

Her name was Lily Evans.

She was named for her grandmother that left her family the house that they lived in. It was a big white Victorian on the middle of a street on top of a hill, in a small English town, north of London. These were the first things Lily remembered ever learning.

Lily grew up rather alone, but never lonely. Her sister, Petunia, had been close to her when they were very young, but when she started showing signs of magic, shunned her, out of fear( though no one knew then that what she was doing was caused by magic) and a little jealousy too, because when strange things happened around Lily, it got Lily a lot of attention. At school, it wasn't much better, though it was no fault of Lily's.

When she was in kindergarten, her teacher told the class that they needed to find something to recite in front of the everyone. As they were 5-year-olds, nothing much was expected. Something from Dr. Seuss, maybe, or a nursery rhyme. That's pretty much what the kids in the class did wind up doing. All except for Lily. She had found a poem in a book of popular children's poems that belonged to her sister. When her name was called to get up at the front of the room, she went up and started her recitation. It was " Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein.

"_There is a place where the sidewalk ends  
And before the street begins,  
And there the grass grows soft and white,  
And there the sun burns crimson bright,  
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight  
To cool in the peppermint wind._

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black  
And the dark street winds and bends.  
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow  
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,  
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go  
To the place where the sidewalk ends.  
Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,  
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,  
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know  
The place where the sidewalk ends"

Lily had no idea just how impressive it was for a five year old girl to be able to remember and recite such a lengthy poem ( lengthy for a five year old that is) .If Lily had known what doing that poem would start, she may not have done it at all. But, the fact remain that she did, and the second she finished her teacher started clapping from her desk.

" Wonderful, Lily, that was wonderful! Did your mommy or daddy pick that out for you."

"No, I did. It was in my big sister's book. My Daddy helped me learn it though , he made flash cards and everything. The poem sounded so cool. Like there was a place you could go far away from the rest of the whole wide world, where everything was magical, like a fairy tale."

Lily's teacher smiled to herself over Lily's obviously big imagination. She turned to the class.

" See, children, this is the sort of thing you can learn in school if you try and put in effort. Lily here should be congratulated for her hard work."

A few kids grumbled good job to her, and that was it. They were all obscenely jealous of her, because she was the only one the teacher had said good job to. They were to jealous and really, to young, to make the connection between the teacher's liking her recitation the best and all the hard work Lily put into doing it. From that moment on , all the kids in her class branded her a teacher's pet, and avoided her during lunch and at every recess.

Lily was a small, understanding, patient little child. The kids in her class weren't acting very differently than her sister did, and her sister ignored her out of jealousy for the attention she often got for being so pretty, smart and sweet. It never occurred to Petunia that she might have gotten some attention to if she were nicer to her sister, and didn't spend so much time sulking over her. So Lily decided to deal with them the same way she dealt with Petunia; by ignoring their rudeness and not forcing herself on their company.

She spent her recesses reading books, and practicing math problems in her smiley face notebook. She figured if they were going to call her a teacher's pet, she may as well live up to the name. She assumed that the other kids would eventually get over ther anger about the poem, and be nice to her again. But she kept doing well in school, and the teacher kept calling her out for it, and her classmates stayed jealous. When it didn't look like it was ever going to change, Lily became very sad. But that all changed on day when she was in the first grade. She was reading a book, and the main character was lamenting to another person about how different he was from everyone around him.

" _Why do I have to be different? Why me?"_

" _It, means my friend, that you were just born for a special fate. Different than the masses of people living hum-drum, typical lives."_

" _Oh, really, well then, what am I supposed to do in the mean time until this special fate?"_

" _Accept who you are, and accept who they are. You may never be able to change their minds about you. You cannot control the will of others , my friend. But they can never change your mind about you, unless you let them. Meanwhile, learn all you can, about as much as you can, because that will take you everywhere. You also never know when you will need to use that knowledge. Remember , the truly malicious are blamable, most of the others are just ignorant. Remember all this, and you may not always be popular, but you will be happy."_

That one paragraph spoke volumes to Lily. She immediately forgot about her classmates treatment of her. They weren't malicious , just ignorant, and she couldn't control them anyways. But she could control her, and so she stopped being sad about it. Then she decided to take the other advice of the paragraph , and learn all she could about different things. She already did very well in school, so she decided to learn about things less academic, and more fun.

She walked up to her mother and said" I want to learn something new."

Her mother looked at her in surprise, but then directed her youngest daughter to the basement, to her grandmother's studio.

Lily's grandma had been a singer and dancer on the London stage in her younger days, and one of the rooms in the basement she had made into a dance practice studio.

Lily opened the door and flicked on the light. One wall was completely covered in mirrors, and the other three were covered in pretty pink wall paper, with a few framed pictures of ballerinas on them. Against one wall was a piano, and next to that, a book shelf with what looked like a bunch of dancing how-to books. Eagerly, Lily went over and checked out the books. There were ones on ballet, ballroom dancing, tap, jazz dancing, swing, and old popular dances, like the jitterbug and the twist, and a few on choreography. There was even one on gymnastics, even though that wasn't strictly dancing.

Over the next few weeks , Lily spent every day after school down in the basement learning out of the dance books. She became rather good at it. As she was only about six or seven, and still young and flexible, she tried some basic gymnastics, like cartwheels, tripods, and head and handstands. This was so successful, that eventually she was going to her dad and saying

" I want to learn something new ."

So he taught her how to draw and paint pictures. When her mom saw this, she decided to teach Lily how to sew on the family sewing machine. One day her aunt came over for a visit, and when she heard that Lily was on a quest to learn as many different skills as she could, she took Lily down to the dance studio and taught her how to play the old piano there. They had such a good time, that soon her aunt was coming over once every two weeks to teach Lily how to play, and the two became very close.

At a family gathering when Lily was nine years old, all her aunts and uncles, as well as her parents , sat around for an Evans family tradition; bragging about their children. When Lily's mom told everyone how Lily was always eager to learn different and new things, her male cousins decided to teach her how to play soccer ,so they would have an even number to play with. (A/N: The Brits call soccer football, but I'm no Brit. Sorry, folks!) She loved the game, and spent the whole rest of the day playing it with her cousins.

Her parents were very proud of Lily, and all of her accomplishments and talents. One person who wasn't proud of her, though, was Petunia. Extremely jealous of how 'perfect' she was, and all the attention it afforded her, she was cruel and mean to Lily every chance she got. Lily ignored hjr though, remembering that, as the book she had read so long ago said, you can't control the will of others, accept them for what they are. She did, and as the book predicted, she was a very happy girl, if not very popular among her peers.

And so Lily drew, danced, sewed, played, and painted through the next few years. She was now on the eve of puberty, and approaching eleven. Her room was filled with pictures she had drawn and her closet filled with clothes she had sewn herself. On a shelf above her bed were trophies she had won doing dance numbers in local talent shows. Lily thought life would just go on like this forever. She had already begun to fill out forms for the local secondary school.

It was a bright sunny day in July when everything really started. Lily was headed out the door, to get to her summer soccer league for girls. She was thinking about

the day before at practice. She had kicked the ball toward the net, and another girl on the other team stepped out to block it with her body, but the ball sailed around the girl, and into the net. Everyone accounted it to the wind, but Lily knew better.

It was starting again. The weird things that just happened around Lily sometimes. There had been no wind even blowing yesterday. This was a pretty tame incident compared to other stuff. Once , she fell from a tree and broke her arm, and the next morning she woke up and it was fine. Once she got really mad at some kids at school for making fun of her, and a whole row of bookshelves came down from the wall. No one was hurt, but from then on she had a feeling she wasn't quite like the other kids, and in more ways than just being the teacher's pet.

She headed for the door calling to her mom saying " Mom, I'm going to ride my bike to practice at the park." She opened the door and stopped. Standing in the doorway was a man. But he didn't look like any man Lily had ever scene before. H was rather short, but had a kind smile on his face. He was wearing pinstriped pants, a white button -up shirt, but with a loud lime-green tie tied haphazardly around his neck, as if he just wasn't quite sure how to tie it. Over this was a floor length trench coat. Well, floor length for a normal sized man. On this man, it gathered at his feet.

" Hello," The strange man said in a rather high ,airy voice. " Are you miss Lily Evans?"

" Yes, I am." Lily replied warily.

" I am Professor Flitwick. May I come in? I'd like to speak with you and your parents, please."

Lily nodded timidly, and let him in.

As he walked through the door, she noticed he was holding what looked like an envelope in his hand. On the cover was a coat of arms, with a badger, an eagle, a snake, and a lion...

To be continued...


	2. A Special Fate

Previously, on The Sweetest Things...

" _Hello," The strange man said in a rather high, airy voice. " Are you Miss Lily Evans?"_

" _Yes, I am." Lily replied warily._

" _I am Professor Flitwick. May I come in? I'd like to speak with you and your parents, please."_

_Lily nodded timidly, and let him in. _

_As he walked through the door, she noticed he was holding what looked like an envelope in his hand. On the cover was a coat of arms, with a badger, an eagle, a snake, and a lion..._

The man walked in, and Lily led him through the front hallway to the living room, where her parents were sitting playing a quiet game of cards.

"Mom, Dad, this is ...Professor Flitwick , He says he'd like to talk to you and I about something."

Professor Flitwick nodded a greeting toward them. Lily's dad looked a little startled by the professor's appearance, but was too polite to say anything but " Hello, Professor it is nice to meet you. Would you like a drink?"

" No, thank you. " Replied Professor Flitwick. ", I am here on special business. But a very happy business to be sure."

He smiled at Lily, and she smiled politely back, but she was really very confused. She had never seen this man before, and had no idea what he could possibly want with her. Lily's dad offered the strange professor a seat on the chair opposite her parents. Lily sat down next to her parents on the couch.

" Lily, Mr. And Mrs. Evans, I am here representing a special school Lily qualifies for, which, if she elects to accept, she will be under the tutalage of teachers best suited to mold her and her ,well, special gifts."

Lily's parents looked at each other in surprise, as well as pride.

" Well, we always knew Lily did well at school, but we didn't know that qualified her to go to a special school." Said Mr. Evans

" Not that sort of school, Mr. Evans. My school, of which I am a teacher of by the way, is, well, you may not believe me but there is no other way to say it, a magic school, for witches and wizards. Your daughter is a witch, and will learn how to harness her powers there."

The reaction from her parents was expected , and yet rather understandable.

"What?" Shrieked her Mom.

" Are you raving?" Yelled her Dad.

" It's impossible! I don't believe it!"

"Ido." Said Lily quietly. While her parents had been in an uproar at the professor, Lily had been thinking about it, and she realized she believed him. It made sense with a lot of things.

"Lily! But it's impossible!" Said Mrs. Evans.

" Almost as impossible as me breaking my arm one day, and then waking up the next and it being healed?" Retorted Lily.

Mrs. Evans had nothing to say to this, but Lily saw in the look on her face that she was not convinced. Lily turned to Professor Flitwick and said

" I think you're going to have to show them something, Professor."

Professor Flitwick nodded understandingly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a stick about a foot long. Then he pointed it at a white couch cushion next to Lily. He muttered something, and the next thing everyone new it was floating in mid-air above their heads. Lily looked over at her parents, and saw them both with amazed looks on their faces. Then the Professor muttered something again, and the pillow landed on Lily's lap, and turned into a fluffy, white cat.

"Aw." Cooed Lily. She scratched it behind it's ears, and it purred. Professor Flitwick muttered something for the third time, and the cat turned back into a normal couch cushion.

" So you see, Mr. And Mrs. Evans, the magic and the school are very real, and Lily has magic in her. I'm sure with some training, she will be a fine addition to her school. You said she does well in the muggle one she attends now?"

" Yes, she does ", Said Mr. Evans proudly ", she always-wait, muggle?"

" Oh, I'm sorry ," Said Professor Flitwick ", muggle is a wizard's word for for non- magic people, like yourself, Lily as your daughter , would be called a muggle born student. Not that it matters though, at least not to good, upstanding citizens." Professor Flitwick's voice took a very strange tone when he said that, so strange, Lily almost asked him what he meant by it, but Lily's mom asked

" This school, where is it, how long will Lily be gone?"

Gone! Lily hadn't even considered that! Could she leave her family, and the town she had grown up in to go to some strange school where they taught you to turn cushions into cats?

" The exact location is a little hard to say, but she would be gone the normal school year, and would come home for the normal summer holidays. But you hardly notice the time pass at Hogwarts."

Howarts?!

Hogwarts.

Really, Hogwarts?

"Well, Lily, what do you think? do you want to go?" Mrs. Evans asked Lily.

Lily was about to answer, when word from the past suddenly filled her mind.

She was five years old and telling her teacher:

_Like there was a place you could go far away from the rest of the whole wide world, where everything was magical, like a fairy tale."_

Then :

_Why do I have to be different? Why me?"_

" _It, means my friend, that you were just born for a special fate. Different than the masses of people living hum-drum, typical lives."_

A special fate.

A special fate.

It looked like Lily had found hers.

" Yes. Absolutely. I'd love to go."

Then the front door opened, and Petunia walked in.

" What's going on?" She took in Professor Flitwick, and wrinkled her nose at his mis-matched clothes.

"Professor Flitwick, this is our oldest daughter, Petunia. Petunia, this is Professor Flitwick, he is a teacher at the boarding school Lily will be attending this fall."

" Boarding school? I thought she was going to Locksley High with me. Why does she get to go to a special school?" Petunia asked.

"Well, it's a magic school, to tell the truth. Lily's a witch! We have a witch in the family! Isn't it wonderful?" Mrs. Evans beamed with pride.

That was probably the wrong thing to do.

Petunia freaked " I knew it, I knew it! There was always something freakish about you! That's what you are, a freak. I'm glad you are going away to that school, it'll keep you far way from normal people like me!"

With that, she turned around and huffed off. Mr. And Mrs. Evans hurried after her, trying to talk some sense into her. Lily didn't. Petunia was always jealous or angry at her for something. This was nothing new, just the latest on the list. She turned to Professor Flitwick , as if nothing had happened and asked nonchalantly

"So, Professor, what do you teach?"

* * *

It was now three weeks later. Lily started school in about a week, and she and her parents were finally in Diagon Alley. They had exchanged normal money for wizard money at Gringott's , just as Professor Flitwick had told them. She had gotten everything on her school list, including a wand( ten and a quarter inches long, willow, swishy, according to the slightly creepy Mr. Ollivanders) and now she was sitting with her parents eating a chocolate and raspberry ice cream cone at the ice cream shop.

She couldn't remember being more excited. It was a beautiful day, she was wearing a bright, sunny yellow dress, and everywhere she looked their were witches and wizards going about their daily business.

" Well, it looks like you've got everything you need." Said Mr. Evans, checking her Hogwarts list ", Oh, except a pet."

" What?" Said Lily. She took the list from her father and looked at the bottom of the page where it said

Students may also bring an owl or a cat or a toad

Lily had taken one look at the list asking for aa magic wand, and was so excited hadn't bothered to look further down the list.

"Well, I saw a pet shop down the street, why don't I head down there ,then, and pick out a cat?" Suggested Lily.

" You want a cat? What about an owl ,dear, that sounds very exotic?" Asked Lily's mom.

" An owl?" Said Lily ", is that even legal? Besides, what do you even use them for?"

Neither of her parents could answer this, so they just gave her some money to run down to the pet shop while they finished up their ice cream.

Lily skipped happily down the street, looking every which way around her. She wasn't really watching ahead of her, so it wasn't a surprise when she bumped into someone. It was a someone so big, Lily fell back on the ground. Then she felt rather big hands grabbing her and pulling her up off the ground.

" Yeh all righ' now? Yer not 'urt or nothing?" The someone asked.

The someone turned out to be a rather large, wild looking man who towered over Lily, and everyone else in the street around him.

" Yes, sir ,I'm fine. I'm sorry I bumped into you." Said Lily.

The man waved off the 'sir'.

"Called me Hagrid, ev'ryone else does. And yeh must be a incomin' firs' year, I reckon?" He asked, smiling down at the tiny girl before him.

"Yes, s-Hagrid, I am, how did you guess?" She asked.

" Yeh had that nervous excited look about yeh. I work at the school." He huffed up with pride at this ", and it's a look I see on firs' years all the time. Say, are you hear by yourself? That's dangerous. Yer a muggle born by the look 'o yer clothes. Need any help getting yer school supplies?"

" No, I'm here with my parents, and we've already gotten all my things. But maybe you can explain something to me. Why would my letter say that I could bring an owl to school?"

" Blimey! You are a muggle born! We use owls fer carrying mail. There dead useful pets, and jus' some advice, that's what I would bring to school. Toads haven't been in fashion since I was in school, and cats, well, I don't like cats, they make me sneeze." Hagrid said indignantly.

Lily laughed " Thank you , you've been very helpful. I must be off, I'll see you at school then. What do you teach, by the way?"

" Nothin'. I'm the groundskeeper and keeper o' the keys. I do stuff fer Professor Dumbledore." Again, Hagrid puffed up with pride. "Come see me some time when you get to school, we'll have tea."

" Sounds lovely, well, good bye." Lily said as she rushed off to Eeylops Owl Emporium, which she saw down the She decided to take Hagrid's advice, and bought a barn owl, which she thought was the prettiest.

Lily came back to her parents and told them about Hagrid, and what he said about owls. After some questioning, Lily's parents were very glad Lily had made friends with someone from the school, especially one who was in some authority and could look after Lily at Hogwarts.

Then the three Evans' went home, and Lily got to have the pleasure of seeing Petunia shriek and scream in reaction to Lily's new owl, which Lily named Hermia, in honor of her favorite character in A Midsummer's Night's Dream.

Lily spent the next week in an intense study of her school books. She wanted to be as good as she thought the kids who had been born into all magic families would be. It was this intense study that carried her the next week, and distracted her from her anxiousness to go.

Finally, the day came. All the Evans' clan came to wish her well. After hugging and kissing her parents good-bye, and stiffly shaking hands with Petunia, lily turned toward the wall between platform nine, and platform ten, just as Professor Flitwick had told her. Without giving any warning to her parents, Lily suddenly rushed toward the platform ,and the trains, and to what Lily was certain was her special fate.

Hello, everyone! Thanks for checking out my story. I can't tell you how exciting it was to see how many hits I got. Some exciting things are coming up, rest assired. Please review, and tell me how I'm doing. Before I sign off, I'll give you some hints for whats coming up next.

1. Lily then saw two red-headed boys walking down the hall, one with a prefect's badge on.

"Honestly, Bilus , was that nessesary? The first-years are scared ebnough without you telling them they have to wrestle a troll to get sorted!"

2. "My parents thought it best I not get a pet. " Said Remus ", our house ins't exactly...pet-friendly."

3. " Lily, I just realized something. Your the only girl the hat put in Gryffindor. You're the only Gryffindor girl in our year!"


	3. Back to the Beginning

Lily zoomed through the wall, and as she came through to the other side, she stopped and looked around amazed at the sight around her. The scarlet engine of the Hogwarts Express smoked its steam almost as if inviting her on board. Happily she rolled her trolley onto the train, and set about looking for an empty compartment. She had come pretty early ,so it wasn't to hard.

She sat down , opened her books, and started studying. Eventually some others arrived on the train, and she put down her books and looked at the people passing by. She saw two boys who were obviously first years, as their robes had no house colors yet. One had glasses and unruly hair that went every which way. The other had dark hair , grey eyes, and Lily could tell was rather handsome already, though they were still only eleven. She wondered if she'd ever get to know those two strangers.

Then Lily heard voices outside her window. She looked out ,and saw three red-headed boys outside on the platform

" Honestly, what was Dumbledore thinking?" Said one boy, who had a prefect's badge pinned to his robes. " Giving Malfoy a prefects badge! Malfoy ! Dumbledore's_ got_ to know he'll abuse his power."

The other two red-heads shook their heads and follows their brother onto the train. Lily sat back in her seat and absorbed the information she'd just heard. She felt a little guilty for listening in on their conversation, but that was soon replaced with another thought.

" _Malfoy_? What sort of name is that?"

The train soon started, and the trip began. Lily went back to her studies. Midway through the trip a woman with a trolley full of candy showed up. Lily had never seen any candy like what she had, so she got a little of everything.

As she was heading back to her compartment, she saw two of the red-headed brothers from earlier walking down the corridors.

" Honestly, Billius was that necessary?" Asked the boy wearing the prefects badge. " The first years are scared enough without you telling them they have to wrestle a troll to get sorted!"

" But Aurthur, I had to ! It's a tradition!" Said Billius.

" No, it's a _Weasley family _tradition, and I'm the last of us, so I hardly see the need to subject the first years ..."

Lily went back in her compartment , giggling. The Weasley's were obviously fun to be around.

Pretty soon, the train rolled into the stop at the village near Hogwarts, called Hogsmeade, according to Prof. Flitwick. Lily realized she hadn't changed into her robes yet, so she quickly changed into her uniform at the speed of light, and went out with the rest of the kids off the train.

" Firs' years, firs' years, over here, please!" It was Hagrid.

"Hello, Hagrid." Said Lily brightly.

" You know him?" Said an impressed sounding, yet rather nervous- looking, first year.

" Yes, I do, a little. " Replied Lily. " and he's very nice."

Hagrid led all the first years to the lake, where a bunch of boats were set up. Everyone got in four to a boat , except in Lily's, because she got into the last one, and by then there were only two other people left. One was a short, slightly pudgy boy with blond hair and watery blue eyes, the other was a boy with sallow skin, dark eyes, a hooked nose, and rather greasy black hair.

" Hello," said Lily, nervously. ", I'm Lily Evans."

" Severus Snape." the boy with greasy hair.

" I'm P- Peter Pettigrew." Said the other boy, nervously.

Lily grabbed one oar, and Peter the other. Peter turned out not to be much of a rower, so Lily, Peter, and Severus lagged behind everyone else. Then they heard Hagrid call from the front that they would soon be able to see Hogwarts. Eagerly, Peter leaned forward to see, and promptly fell out of the boat with a splash.

Lily saw his hand come up once ,and then go back down, and not come up again. Lily tried to think of what to do, Hagrid was way in front with everybody else. Lily was about to go in after him herself, when a boat came over to them. The boys in it had heard the splash and come over to see what was going on. The boy in front took one look at the two remaining kids in the boat, and jumped out of his boat in after Peter. He came up two seconds later, half dragging Peter up with him. He dumped Peter back in the boat with Lily and Severus, and swam back in his own boat.

The three other boys in the boat cheered for their rescuing boat mate, and the boy grinned and gave a little bow, and the three boys laughed. Lily took a closer look at the boy who had rescued Peter, and realized it was the boy with glasses and unruly hair she had seen earlier. The dark- haired boy she had seen with him earlier was now sitting next to him on the boat.

The rest of the ride was far less eventful. Lily and Peter went back to rowing after Lily asked Peter several times if he was okay.

When they got to the school, they were addressed by a severe looking woman named Professor McGonagall, who explained about the four houses, and the house point system. Then they were herded into the great hall, and sorted. Lily learned that the boy with the dark hair who was in the other boat was named , Sirius Black. He was put into Gryffindor. When Lily had her turn with the hat , she jumped at the strange voice in her head. " Ah, yes, without a doubt- Gryffindor!"

All the kids at the Gryffindor table cheered as Lily got up from the stool and made her way over to the Gryffindor table, and became the first girl in her year to become sorted into Gryffindors. Soon, she saw the boy who rescued Peter ( Potter, James), Peter, and a boy named Remus Lupin, who was rather pale and sickly looking, all become Gryffindors. Severus Snape became a Slytherin. Then, two other boys, Adam Smart, and Cameron Long, become two more Gryffindors. Then the sorting ended, and everyone sat down to the start of term feast.

Pretty soon, the topic went around to family's of the new first years. Peter, James, and Remus were all pure-bloods, as was Adam, while Cameron was a half- blood.

" I'm a muggle- born." Said Lily.

" Oh," Said Adam, "What was it like going to a muggle school? Did you have many friends?"

" Well, the school was alright, but I didn't have many friends. I was always a bit of a bookworm, so I got really good marks, and it made the other kids rather jealous." Said Lily. She had surprised herself, she never usually talked about that out loud to anyone.

" My mum is hoping I'll make more friends here, especially among the girls in the house."

" Yeah, that's a good- oh, my gosh, Lily, I just realized something. You're the only girl in outr year who was sorted into our house! You're the only Gryffindor girl in our year!" Adam had said this rather loudly, so a lot of the table looked over at him. A few digested what he had said, and realized that he was right. Soon, the whole table was talking about it.

" She'll have the whole room to herself."

" Has this ever happened before?'

" No, it hasn't. The sorting hat must have made a mistake."

" The sorting hat does not make mistakes! There must be a reason for it."

Lily felt a little weird, having everyone talking about her, but at least it wasn't because they were complaining about her being a teachers pet for once.

" So why are you two all wet anyway?" Said Cameron, looking at James and Peter.

Grateful for the change of subject, Lily joined James and Peter in relating the story of what happened out on the lake.

" He was very brave." Lily complimented.

" Well, bravery always goes over well with Gryffindors ,doesn't it?" It was Billius Weasley, who had come over and sat between Remus and Peter to hear the story.

When he made the comment about Gryffindors and Bravery, several people sitting around them cheered. Billius was obviously highly popular. Billius introduced himself to the first years. He was one of three Weasley brothers, the oldest, and a seventh year. He pointed out his youngest brother, Arthur, who was the new prefect for that year." Go to him if you need anything, like directions."

" Because Billius will probably lead you to a trap door, instead of a classroom." A fifth year joked.

" Who, me? I would never do that to a poor, defenseless first year." He laughed, and turned to all the new students. " But, really, it's the start of the school year, so watch out for any people pulling any hazing tricks, because some kids will lead you down a trap door in this school."

All the kids nodded, grateful for the information, and the idea that they had a sort of ally in one of the older kids.

The feast ended, and the prefect Arthur, along with a female prefect who identified herself as molly Prewitt, lead them to the Gryffindor tower. The feast had ended earlier than usual, so the prefects allowed a little extra time for everyone to hang out in the common room and reacquaint themselves with Gryffindor tower. All seven of the first years sat down on two couches facing each other, feeling very awkward.

" So, " began Sirius. ", I'm from a really old wizard family. Everyone in it is obsessed with being pure blood. They're all Slytherins . But I don't want anything to do with that, so I became a Gryffindor instead. I am just telling you now , so I won;'t have to repeat the story six times when you guys see Slytherins giving me dirty looks in the hallways."

James gave Sirius a slap on the back. " don't worry , man. We've got your back if any of the 'slythies' start giving you any trouble."

Everybody laughed "

Slythies?" Asked Lily.

" Well, it's good nickname, don't you think?" Joked James.

Adam laughed so hard he nearly fell out of his chair, which wasn't a very good idea, as he was holding a small black and white kitten. The kitten hissed, and leaped out of Adam's lap.

' Aw." Cooed Lily. She picked up the kitten and petted it.

" It's adorable.' Said Lily.

"Do you want it?"Asked Adam. " It's from my sister's cat's new litter, my mom decided that it should be my Hogwarts animal, because, you know, it would be cheaper than buying an owl. But, really, it's unmanly." The boys nodded in sympathy.

" But I already have an owl, won't I get into trouble." Lily asked.

" Just keep her up in your dorm, you'll be fine." Said Adam.

Lily looked at the cute little kitten in her hand, and found she couldn't say no. She took in its black and white appearance, and decided to name her Oreo.

"So, do you all have pets?" She asked the boys.

James, Sirius , and Cameron all had owls. Peter had a toad, and Remus did not have an animal.

" My parents thought it best that I not get an animal." Said Remus. " Our house is not exactly ...pet-friendly."

He said it in a rather strange tone of voice that made Lily curious. Just as she was about to ask him what he meant by it, Arthur the prefect came over to their couches and told them that it was half past ten, and if they wanted to be well enough for there first day of classes, they had better get to bed. So, the seven new gryffindor's trooped up to there respective dorms. The boys were all goofing and joking as they headed up to the first year boy's dorm. AS Lily walked up to her dorm, and walked into the very grand, yet empty dorm room, she couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of the boys , who all had each other. But Lily was still very happy, because she knew that as she turned off the lights to go to sleep, the next morning she would be turning them on to her new school, and her new life.

Let's fast forward for a while, over the first few weeks of Lily's new life at Hogwarts, which were all very eventful .James Potter and Lily soon became very well known around school, but for two different reasons: James for quidditch skills, and Lily for being the only girl in her year's house.

It was very unusual for a girl to be the only one in her dorm for her year. The only time anyone could ever remember that happening was a thousand years ago, when the school was just beginning. It was so unusual, and so much talked about amongst the students, that Professor Mcgonogall felt inclined to pull her aside after class one day and explain it all to her.

" Miss Evans, it is the last thing I or any of the faculty wish for you to feel alienated. It was just an array of different circumstances that you ended up the only Gryffindor girl in your year. For instance, there is a rather large number of girls that were placed in Ravenclaw this year. There were actually three girls who would have been in your year- well, I am not supposed to discuss- but I doubt you'll tell anybody- well, two of the girls who would have been here were the daughters of diplomats in the Wizard's UN, and there parents went to work in France, so they were naturally transferred to Beauxabon's Academy of magic. The other girl's parents wrote to the school saying that they were going to home school there daughter in magic- I believe that they were top- ranking ministry 'expirimentalists'- spell inventors- known for high intelligence and comprehension of magic. So those three girls may have been your missing Gryffindor classmates."

Professor Mcgonogall gave Lily what she had learned was a rare smile.

" I am just telling you this so you will not feel singled out and alone. I am sure that you will make many of friends here, even if you aren't sharing a dorm with any of them. I am also sure that you will do Gryffindor proud, and that there is a special reason that you are the only girl in your house year."

It was the end of what sounded like what was supposed to be an inspiring speech. So Lily just gave her new transfiguration professor a smile, and excused herself to go to potions.

How James Potter became known for his quidditch skills was a much more exciting event, and it involved lily.

It was the middle of the first flying lesson of the year, and everyone in the class, made up of both gryffindors and Slytherins, was flying around the quidditch pitch on the school brooms. It all started when a few of the Slytherins who new Sirius's backround started taunting him about his choice of house. "Traitor." "Turncoat." " Blood- traitor." ,and the like. James. Who had become fast friends with Sirius, quickly rushed to his sefense. The slytherins there suggested that they settle the whole fight in a game of quidditch. The two angry, hot-headed boys agreed, and one of the kids flew to the stands and pulled a box out from under the seats, which they recognized as the quidditch ball box. James and Sirius groaned, as they both realized that the game had been pre-planned, and they had been tricked into accepting a challenge the other kids had planned to use to humiliate them. Nevertheless, the boys still played the game as they had said they would.

Madame Hooch, meanwhile, had seen none of this. She was to busy keeping her eagle eyes on Lily, at the end of the pitch near the hoops. Lily was only half in control of her broom,and wasn't picking it up as nearly as well as the others. She hovered unsteadily in front of the middle hoop, her hands clutching the broom handle so tightly, her knuckles were turning white.

"No, Evans, you control where the broom goes, not the other way around!" Called Madame Hooch desperately. She certainly wasn't going to get a team player out of this one. It was a shame, she had her from Professor Mcgonogall that she was leading her year in all her other classes.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the pitch, the game was on between the Gryffindors and Slytherins. Sirius passed the quaffle to James, and he dove out of the way of one the Slytherins, and threw the ball hard toward the middle hoop at the other end of the pitch- and straight at Lily.

Lily screamed as both she and the ball went flying threw the hoop. Lily hit her arm hard on the side of it as she went through. She had fallen off her broom and was falling to the ground.

She landed with a smack on the ground, and the whole class quickly flew down to her to see if she was all right. All except for Sirius. He took his wand out and pointed it at the ball, and said a spell to make it explode, so there would be no evidence of what had hit Lily. He was insuring that there would be nothing that would get him or James, who had thrown the ball, expelled.

Lily was taken up to the hospital wing, where she stayed for the next two days. Nobody, miraculously, got into trouble, thanks to Sirius's foresight to get rid of the incriminating Quaffle, and the fact that nobody who'd participated in the game would say what happened, even the Slytherins , because they didn't want to get into trouble. But Lily did get taken out of Flying lessons, to prevent further injuries. Back then, flying was little only a little more than an extra- curricular class, because flying carpets were still legal, and so there were other ways for witches and wizards to get around by flying. The ministry of magic was actually, at the time, considering removing it from the curriculum all together to save money, and because of th rather large number of flying accidents that had recently occurred at the time. No one at the school wanted that, so they decided that it would be better to remove Lily from the class as a precautionary measure, since the fate of th class was already hanging on a string. Such was the happening of Lily Evans getting kicked out her flying class , after only one lesson.

When Professor Dumbledore asked her if it would be okay if she was taken out of the class she said the she would be disappointed not to learn how to fly " But I don't mind making a sacrifice if it's for the good of the school."

Needless to say, her sweetness and maturity made quite an impression on the good professor.

So Lily was taken out of the class and placed in the library to help Madame Pince with her work in there.

The story of what happened at the flying class spread throughout the school like wild fire, and even though the teachers didn't know all the details of what happened ,the students sure did. Lily was made in to the damsel in distress, a great heroine, a martyr in the epic struggle between the mighty Gryffindors and the slimy, scummy Slytherins. When Lily came back to the tower on the night of the second day she had been in the hospital wing, she was greeted by a round of applause by all the students in the common room. Lily smiled happily as she was led over to a seat, given some chocolate, and besieged with many requests to explain her side of what happened. When ahe got to the part about the ball hitting her through the hoop, and her hitting her arm on the side, Molly the prefect jumped up and started yelling at James and Sirius, in a rather motherly way.

" Really, what were you thinking? Not only was that reckless, but someone got hurt for it, too. Now she's been withdrawn from the class! You were lucky not to be expelled! What's more, Lily is the only girl in her year, the six boys here should be able to look after the one girl better than that!" And on and on it went. Lily saw a few kids giving each other satisfied smirks, as if they had been waiting for this to come, and they probably had .Lily guessed this was probably for her benefit, to make up for the fact that they had put her in danger and had escaped getting any consequences for it. Eventually Bilius Weasley got up to stop her.

" all right Molly, calm down. What I'd like to know is which one of you first years threw a ball so strong it knocked a girl straight form the hoop from that far away."

" That would be me," Said James. He turned toward Lily ", Sorry Lily, I didn't mean to get you hurt."

" It's alright." Said Lily. She was really feeling good. She had never had so many people paying attention to her before.

" Well, are you interested in quidditch?" Asked Bilius, returning the conversation back to James. " First years aren't really allowed on the teams, but I'd like you to start going to practices, and seeing what its like, and at the end, perhaps maybe even play with the team a little.

" He nearly got a girl killed, and now all of a sudden he get's rewarded for it!" Screeched Molly, but she was drowned out by everybody buzzing about the potential new player for the Gryffindor quidditch team.

" Yes, definitely." Accepted James enthusiastically.

Such was the happening of James Potter becoming the first chaser in Gryffindor house on the team, but not really on the team.


	4. The Midnight Challenge Part I

So , let's fast forward again , to the second year of Lily and the Gryffindors. It was November, and life at Hogwarts was going on in the same steady beat it always did. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had now become a well-known foursome within the school, a group of pranksters that everyone liked. Nearly headless Nick had named them the Marauders, which he said was Latin for troublemakers. Lily was still in a dorm by herself, but sometimes when some of the older girls had a fight, one of them might come down to sleep in a spare bed to get away from the other girls. Lily herself was well-liked, too, but it was hard for her to make very close friends among the other students.

Lily climbed through the portrait hole, coming back from a walk around the grounds. She had been with Hagrid, but came in when she couldn't stand the early November cold anymore. She spotted the marauders sitting around the fire in the couches, and went to sit down by them.

" Hi, boys, what's up?"She said, sitting down and pulling off her mittens.

"We just got back from the library." Said James. ", and while we were there, we ran into the Slytherin's."

Lily could tell by the looks on there faces that there had been some sort of confrontation. The Slytherins they talked about was probably the usual crowd.; Severus Snape, Ella Molloy, Marcus Knot, Beatrice Lestrange, and Mercutio Mulcibur. They were a nasty bunch of kids, and they clashed with the marauders often. No one more so, than James and Severus themselves. It arrived for easily understandable reasons; Severus was rather jealous of James's popularity and talent at sports, while James considered Severus an easy target for pranks and teasing.

" What happened?" Asked Lily with a sense of foreboding.

" Oh, the usual," Replied James. ", insults, taunts, Lestrange and Mulciber gave Sirius a hard time about being a Gryffindor again. They said that perhaps his brother next year won't be a disgrace to his family and his heritage like he is."

" I wanted to rip those little slime balls limb from limb." Sirius fumed.

" and he almost did." Said Remus. ", he did, indeed, start a small duel right there in the library. We had to cut it short because Madame Pince walked in and nearly saw us. We narrowly avoided a detention, but we left off the fight with the Slytherin's swaering that we'd finich the fight later, and they would figure out a way to settle it."

" That's what worries me, a little." Interrupted James. " You know whatever they come up with is going to be sinister, and it's going to be rigged too. There not a very honorable lot, and consider themselves above fair-play."

" As they have demonstrated time and time again." Concluded Remus. " I think your right. The both of you. I think if something is going to happen, our best chance is if it is our idea. Maybe we could lay down some sort of challenge?"

"Yeah, but what?" Said James.

No one answered . Peter, who had been there the whole time, just stared off in to space. It seemed that he was content just to stay quiet and just let his friends do all the clever talking. Lily thought about it for a minute, and then came up with an idea. She hesitated for a minute, though, because she knew how risky it would be to do what she was planning.

" I have an idea." Said Lily.

" What?" Asked James eagerly.

" Well, how about a game of...hide and seek?" Suggested Lily timidly.

" What's that?" Asked Sirius.

So Lily launched into an explanation of the rules of hide and seek, and how muggles played it at parties.

" Except this time ," explained Lily ", the hiders would be you four and the Slytherins and the seekers... would be the teachers."

The boys "ooh" ed, suddenly understanding.

" So, we all go out in the castle after dark, and have a contest to see who get's caught and who doesn't." Comprehended James. " I like it."

" Me too." Said Sirius, rubbing his hands together. This was perfect for causing a little mischief.

" I like it as well." Conceded Remus. " but it is awfully risky. What if we get caught? What if we get expelled?"

" Trust me, I have a way-," James glanced over at Lily.", I have a way we will never get caught. I'll show you guys later."

Lily was a little confused about what James was talking about, but decided that it was probably none of her business.

" Well, whatever that way is, it had better be good, because if any of you boys get caught ,it'll be on my conscience."

" Oh, don't worry Lily, flower," Said James smoothly. ", we know exactly what we're getting into when we do the things we do. We wouldn't be the marauders if wh didn't consider the risks, weigh all the pros and cons-"

" And do it anyway." Cut in Sirius.

All the kids laughed, and James slapped hands with Sirius.

" Well, good luck then, I'll just leave you guys to do figure everything out." lily got up from her chair and walked over to one of the tables to start her transfiguration homework. As exciting a prospect as the challenge was, Lily couldn't help but have a sense of foreboding that her idea was going to open of the boys to a lot of trouble. Then Lily thought of something else.

"Lily Flower?"

The rest of the week past, and it looked like the challenge was on. The Slytherins had agreed to it, and the day before they had all had a sort of "war council" on the front steps of the school, and worked everything out. It would start on Friday night ,at midnight, and go until three in the morning. They would meet in the great hall at midnight and converge, and then split off in their own groups for the next three hours. Then when time was up, they would meet up in the library, because their were enough secret passages around it for a quick escape to both of the house common rooms.

To make sure that no one just blew the whole thing and went back to their dorm until the three hours ended, Remus furnished some bracelets with coordinates of both the Gryffindor and Slytherin dorms for everyone to where. They's sound off when someone entered into a common room.

" Wait a minute. " Said Severus. ", how do you know the location of the Slytherin common room?"

" Wouldn't you like to know." Grinned Sirius.

Now, it was Friday afternoon, and Lily was studying in the library. Or, at least she was supposed to be, but she couldn't get her mind off what was supposed to happen later that night. She was so lost in thought that she didn't hear when someone came up from behind her.

" Penny for your thoughts?" Asked a low voice from behind her.

Lily jumped, startled. She turned around and saw standing there none other than Severus Snape.

" Oh, hello, Severus." Said Lily. ", would you like to sit down?"

" Don't mind if I do." Said Severus, the soul of civility and politeness.

Lily and Severus had a strange relationship, at least where Gryffindors and Slytherins were concerned. They could never be real friend; his friends didn't get along with the boys in her year, especially with Severus and James, and The Slytherins certainly didn't approve of Lily, smartest in her year, and a muggle-born of all things! And yet, Lily and Severus were both very scholarly students, shared an aptitude for potions, and ever since that first night on the boat across the lake, had shared a mutual respect for each other. The could never be real friends, but lily had an idea that if she was in real trouble, then she could go to him for help if she really needed it.

" So, word is, that you are doing this midnight challenge thing tonight." Said Lily.

" Yes, it's true." Said Severus. ", I heard that the whole thing was your idea. Is that true?"

" Yes, it's true, but now..."

"But, now, you are not sure if it is such a good idea as it originally sounded?" Finished Severus for her.

" Exactly." Said Lily. ", What if somebody gets hurt, hogwarts isn't perfectly safe, especially at night. Or worse than _that_, what if some gets expelled?"

Severus couldn't help but laugh at the terrified expression on Lily's face.

" It'll be fine, lily, I promise. I'm sure the Marauders. " Severus spat out the word, as if it were a curse. " will have pumped the Weasley's for all the information they can get on the secret passages around the school, and we've consulted Lucius Malfoy on the subject, and he knows a lot, so I'm sure it's evenly matched."

Lily gagged a little. She didn't like Lucius Malfoy. He was the reason she knew what the word mudblood meant, and for once in her life, it was something she wished she had never learned.

" I know, I know, he wasn't very nice to you, but I still like him and value his opinion. But I didn't come here to express views on the people we hang out with. Lily, I think the others are planning something." Severus had taken a low tone of voice, as if he was afraid of being overheard.

" Planning something? What sort of something?" Asked Lily Anxiously.

" I don't know, they haven't said anything to me about it, but I can tell by the way they act, conspiratorially, secretive, that they are up to something. If I didn't know you were involved, I wouldn't have said anything at all. But I want us to win because we're better than the Marauders ( which we are), and not because we are better cheaters than them."

"Thanks, Sev, I'll warn the boys." Said Lily. She smiled , it was really nice of him to do this, especially for guys he didn't even like.

"If I didn't know you were involved, I wouldn't have said anything at all."

His voice echoed in her head all the way as she headed back to the Gryffindor common room.

That night, at ten till midnight, the four marauders met up in the common room to head down to the great hall together. Lily came along too, feeling it her duty as the creator of the midnight challenge, as everyone was calling it, to at least see the boys off. They were all wearing black clothes, with the gryffindor emblem on their shirts in dark red. They were each wearing small red plastic bracelets, with all the numbers one through nine on them. One for each player of the challenge. If someone went back to their dorm before the three hours were up, then their number would glow. Remus had made them, with Lily's help, and she was quite proud of them.

When Lily told the boys about Severus's warning, they unfortunately just waved it off, and told her that they could handle it.

"We're big boys, Lily, they can't dish out anything we can't give back tenfold." Said Sirius.

Peter gave a whoop, but was quickly shut up by the boys before he could wake anyone. The boys reviewed their plan one more time, and with a chivalrous bow towards Lily James led Sirius, Remus, and Peter out of the portrait hole, and down the stairs to the great hall.

Lily went back upstairs to her room, her ever-empty room. She had no one to wake, so she didn't have to be to careful about being quiet. She climbed into her bed, and drew the curtains. She tried to go into an uneasy sleep, unsure how things would go, and very afraid of what might happen under the cover of night.

Meanwhile, several floors below, the midnight challenge was about to begin...

Hey everyone


	5. The Midnight Challenge II

"_Lily, I think the others are planning something."_

" _They can't dish out anything we can't give back tenfold."_

"_What if someone gets hurt? Or, worse, expelled?"_

Lily woke up in a cold sweat. She untangled herself from her sheets, and rolled over to her night stand and checked the time. It was one o'clock in the morning. The Midnight Challenge had been going on for an hour, and down stairs Severus and the marauders were running around risking getting caught by any of the teachers. Lily blamed herself. The whole thing was her idea, and now, she couldn't take it any more. Lily pushed aside her blankets, and rushed out of the dormitory, and out of the Gryffindor common room. She was joining the Midnight Challenge.

Meanwhile, on the third floor, the Midnight Challenge was on in full swing. The marauders had split off in pairs, Remus with Peter, and James with Sirius(naturally). James was joking with Sirius about a recent Quidditch match( James was now one of the chasers of the Gryffindor team), when he heard footsteps coming down the hall. Sirius quickly hid in a small passage behind a statue of a one-eyed witch. The statue closed behind him, before James could get in, too. James ran down the hall as quickly and quietly as he could. As James rounded a corner , he stopped and stared, for right before him stood a statue of the Gryffindor lion, which was noosed by what looked like a Slytherin scarf.

" Yeah, yeah, that's real classy, j_erks_." Muttered James. He would get them for this, somehow.

The footsteps came around the corner ,and stopped. James groaned inwardly, he closed his eyes and waited for the yelling to start.

" James! Where is everybody? Wow, who did _that_?"

James turned around in relief and surprise.

"Lily?"

"I know, I know, but I couldn't stand the idea of you guys being out here when the whole thing was my idea!"

James smiled. Lily was so sweet and earnest, there was no way he could tell her to go back to the common room. Besides, it would be a lot more fun with her in the game, too.

He grinned." Are you sure?" Lily nodded. " Well, then I guess the Gryffindor team has another player!"

James led Lily back down the corridor, got Sirius out of the passage, and explained Lily's joining the game. Sirius thought it was a laugh.

"But where is everyone else?" Asked Lily.

" Well, Remus and Peter split off ,and now there hiding out on the Astronomy Tower. The Slytherin's split in two groups, too. Some of them are hiding out in the Dining Hall, and some of them are up a few floors, we've no idea what there up to."

Lily nodded, and followed the boys down the hall.

"We've discovered loads of secret passages around the school," Said James enthusiastically ", we're thinking of making a list or something, so we'll remember them."

"How about a map?" Suggested Lily. ", You could make one of all the grounds, and it would be more useful than a list."

"That's an awesome idea!" Said James.

James and Sirius immediately began discussing the possibilities and methods of creating such a map, as they headed up to the Astronomy tower to re-group with Remus and Peter . When they got there, they walked in upon the two with lunar charts in hand, talking quietly while looking into a pair of telescopes. Remus looked sheepish when he saw the others.

"Might as well catch up on homework while we're up here." He said, blushing a little.

"What's Lily doing with you two?" Asked Peter.

"Lily's joined the game. She couldn't _stand _the thought of staying in bed like a good little girl while we had all the fun down here." Said Sirius with a grin.

" Can I see your lunar chart, Remus?" Asked James. " I just want to see if I got everything right. I finished mine last night."

"Yeah, like you even touch your homework until ten minutes before it's due." Laughed Remus. But he handed the chart over anyways.

"Oh, dang it all, the full moon is _next_ week, not the week_ after_." Said James in a frustrated tone.

" Perfect, when all the werewolves come out." Laughed Sirius. " Maybe we could sneak into the Forbidden Forest and see if there really are any living in there after all."

James's eyes lit up, and he looked like he was up for it, but Remus broke in.

" I'm afraid that's one adventure you'd have to count me out on, boys. My mother has taken _another_ turn for the worse, and the teachers and Professor Dumbledore have decided that next week would be the best time to go visit her. By the way, I, personally, don't think an up close encounter with a werewolf is quite the adventure you'd imagine it to be."

Lily couldn't help but notice that Remus had gone a little pale in the moonlight. After giving Remus their condolences about his mother, the talk soon turned to happier subjects, but lily didn't forget Remus's getting pale, and how he seemed to have done it at the mention of werewolves.

Downstairs, in the hallway outside of the library, all the Slytherins had convened to set their plan into action. It was a simple plan, actually. In the floor their was a trapdoor, that led down to a sort of slide to the floor below. But Beatrice Lestrange had preformed a spell that put sticky, slimy goo, all over the slide, so when she tricked the Gryffindors into stepping on the door, they would fall in and get stuck. When the morning came, and no one could find them , a search would be held, and when they were found hopefully it would be assumed they had been sneaking around at night, and they would be expelled.

It didn't occur to the young Slytherins that they could just set a teacher on their rival students. They wanted more than any thing else to wound the pride of the Gryffindors.

The goo on the slide would turn their skin green. Not only gross, but infuriating to proud Gryffindors such as those ridiculous, arrogant marauders.

"You know," Came a voice from the sideline of the hall.

It was Mercutio Mulciber, who was leaning against the wall, watching her complete the spell. " I heard that Snape went to that mud blood, warned her about us."

"I always said he was to close to her to be trusted. "Said Beatrice. " That's why we never included him in the plan, that's why Ella and Marcus are with him now, and have him far away from us and what we are doing."

Beatrice finished her spell work, and stepped back, satisfied . Mercutio drew out his wand, and pointed it toward the trapdoor.

" May I?" He Said.

Beatrice nodded. Mercutio muttered a spell, and enlarged the dimensions of the trapdoor.

" Now they will all fall in at the same time, if you can get them to stand on it all at once."

Beatrice smiled an evil grin.

" I don't care what Snape told that mud blood., the Gryffindors don't know what's coming to them...

While Beatrice and Mercutio were plotting their tricks, the Gryffindor's were all up in the Astronomy tower having a sort of miniature party. They talked and goofed off, and Lily introduced them to the highly popular muggle game "Truth or Dare". Remus had just completed his dare of balancing on the edge of the tower ( He had been refusing to do truth the entire game, for some odd reason), when Peter checked his watch .

"It's quarter to three, mates, we had better get going." He told the others.

So they all got up from where they were sitting ,and started from the tower down to the library on the seventh floor. They were just rounding the corner to the library when they heard a shout from down the hall. All of a sudden Mercutio Mulciber came running up to them.

"Help! It's Beatrice. I always new this castle was psychotic! Come quickly!"

Lily and the Marauders ran after Mercutio down the hall and around the corner. In the middle of the floor, what looked like a trap door was open.

" We were walking, and all of a sudden she fell through that trap door! I've tried to yell for her, but I can't hear her at all! I don't know what to do." You had to hand it to Mercutio. He was a fantastic actor.

" It's all right man, just calm down." Said James. As much as he didn't like Mercutio or Beatrice, that didn't mean he wanted either of them get seriously hurt.

Keyword being, seriously.

James motioned the marauders forward, but Lily to stay back. Beatrice, meanwhile, was actually on the other side of the trap door, hiding behind a suit of armor. As soon as they got close enough to the trap door she was going to jump out and shoot open the trapdoor with her wand, and they'd all fall in.

Lily and all the marauders rounded the corner. Lily looked around ,growing a little suspicious. Mercutio didn't like any of the marauders, or her, either, by virtue of her non-magic parentage. If he was so concerned, why didn't he go for one of his friends, whom he trusted more? Severus's warning rang in her head.

_I think they're planning something, Lily..._

Lily halted.

" Um, you guys, wait a minute-ah!" Lily screamed, as a white flash of light streaked past her head. Beatrice cursed silently from behind the suit of armor. She had started the spell once she heard footsteps. The marauders were only a foot or two from the trapdoor. They would have fallen in if Lily hadn't stopped them.

" What was that?" James demanded. He turned around and faced Mercutio, giving him an accusatory glare.

" A prank gone awry." Said Mercutio dryly. Stupid Lily. It had almost worked! Why did Beatrice have to be so spell-happy with her wand?

" What?" Roared the Marauders.

"We agreed to an honest game, with no tricks. Just a test of wits!"

" Yeah!" Agreed James" This means war! We'll get you for this! This, and that stupid thing with the noose and the slytherin scarf."

Mercutio laughed. He himself had come up with that idea, and he was glad he had succeeded in ticking off the Gryffindors as he had hoped..

" Wait, if this was a trick , then where are all of your friends? What happened to Beatrice, for that matter?" Asked Lily, always the thinker.

' I'm right here." Beatrice slid out of the darkness.

" Did you shoot that spell at us?" Asked Lily.

' Yes I did. You're not the only one around here who knows how to shoot decent spells Lily." Beatrice was very jealous of Lily's academic prowess. "Trust me, if it had worked, you all would have been expelled! What do you think of that! " Beatrice promptly walked forward toward the marauders, stepped on the trapdoor , and fell in.

Everyone stared at the trap door in shock. Then all the marauders along with Lily cracked up. They didn't stop laughing for five minutes. Mercutio ran off to get his friends for help with Beatrice. Off in the distance, a clock chimed twelve times. The midnight challenge was over.

Mercutio came back, with all the Slytherins in tow.

"Well, we're all here," Said Sirius "But I don't know if we can count Beatrice, seeing as she got caught in your own trap." His voice took on a savage note.

Behind Mercutio, Lily saw a small grin come on Severus's face. Sometimes Lily got the idea that he didn't like her much.

"What! You stupid Gryffindors..." One of the Slytherins walked up to the edge of the trapdoor and looked in to see if he could see his friend.

Sirius gave James a sly look, and without discussing it, James took out his wand and quietly said a spell that produced a gust of wind towards the trapdoor, which pushed the guy down the trapdoor with Beatrice. Immediately, everyone on both sides had their wands drawn out, and their was a silent tension, with everyone ready for a fight, but no one daring to make the first move. Then Peter sneezed.

The hallway became a maze of spells and different colored flashes of light. Down two people, the Slytherins were soon overtaken, and once defeated, each Slytherin was then tossed down the trap door with their house mates. Severus was the last one left, and all four of the Marauders turned their wands on him eagerly, for none of them, especially James, liked him. As they all simultaneously raised their wands Lily yelled

" Stop!" All of the boys turned to Lily, their wands still on Severus.

" Severus is the one who warned me that there would be a prank tonight. That's the reason I came out here to help. If it weren't for him, you'd all be down where ever the trap door leads."

" Actually," Put in Severus " You'd all be stuck to the walls , covers in slime that turned your skin green."

The boys winced, and lowered their wands.

" Well, in any case..." Said James.

' What on earth is that infernal racket! If peeves thinks it's a good joke to throw things around in the middle of the night, he's got another thing coming!" Professor Mcgonagall's unmistakable voice rang through the halls.

" Everyone split!" James ordered.

James, Lily, Sirius, Petr, and Remus took off down one end of the hall towards Gryffindor tower, while Severus disappeared behind a tapestry that presumably led to the Slytherin common room. As they were running off, they heard their transfiguration teacher's voice yelling.

" What is that trap door doing open. Who is down there?"

The five young Gryffindors made it back to their common room and collapsed on the couches. They all looked at each other for a moment, taking in the crazy night they had all shared. Then, one by one, they all started laughing. They didn't stop laughing for several minutes, and when they settled down, they started talking about the night's events.

" Well, story for the grandchildren, I suppose." Remarked Sirius.

'You have that right. " Replied a grinning James. " All I want to know is, when can we do that again?"

" Are you crazy, we can't ever do that again! We almost got caught by Professor Mcgonagall! If she had caught us, we would have been expelled!" Lily protested.

" Oh, come on, Lily, you know you had fun." Said James.

" Well, yes, I did, but that's beside the point. What if we had been caught in that stupid booby trap?"

"Well, we didn't, and it's all thanks to you. I think we all owe you a huge one." James said.

" Oh, it was nothing." said Lily modestly .

" No, it was something." James insisted. ", In fact, we'll make a certificate of aan owed favor, from the marauders to you."

The other kids laughed.

" Nom I'm serious. IT's the least we can do . After all, you did keep us from getting green-colored skin from that goo."

Remus, Sirius, and Peter stopped laughing.

"Maybe that would be a good idea." Said Sirius.

Lily shrugged it off. It seemed silly to her. The boys were her friends, and you always helped out a friend in need, as far as she was concerned. Lily and the boys talked a little more, before going to their separate dorms. The one good thing about being the only girl in her house year was that she didn't have to worry about waking up anyone else in her room.

After the adventure of the midnight challenge, it seemed as if Lily's friendship with James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had been officially solidified. They did wind up giving her a certificate of an owed favor, but it had become more of an inside joke than anything else. They presented it, a piece of highly decorated parchment, written in a very flourished script by Remus, with much pomp and circumstance.

As for the Slytherins who had participated in the midnight challenge, they were indeed caught by Professor Mcgonagall. None of them were expelled, but they were given two weeks detention. Lily and the Marauders watched them go off after supper each night very pleased that the results of their adventure had turned out better than expected.

Lily, James, Sirius , Remus, and Peter; they were only twelve years old. Lily had friends for the first time in her life. She couldn't have been happier. She laughed with her friend, not thinking about how quickly things could change. She, nor any of the marauders, thought about how very soon they would be turning thirteen, and how much things could change when the teen years hit. None of them knew, but would soon, how the next year would change the course of the relationship and the lives of Lily and James forever.

Hey everyone! I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to get this up. I've been so busy, you wouldn't believe it. But now I promise to get things rolling again. So, these first few chapters have been a sort of introduction, setting up the starring players. Now things will get interesting for Lily. Here are a few hints for upcoming chapters. If anyone likes these, I'll do them every chapter.

1. Thee will be a strain in Lily's relationship with the marauders, which our favorite greasy haired potions maker may have some weight in.

2. We will meet the three missing Griffindor girls , you know, the one that should have been Lily's dorm mates. Perhaps...they will take their rightful places at Hogwarts?

3. The certificate of a favor will come into play, but not for a long time.

Please comment on my story people. Even if your flaming ,I don't mind. I'd like to know what I'm doing wrong or right, so I can make it a better ad better story for my reader. I promise, more chapters are coming

In case anyone was wondering, I did not get Beatrice Lestrange mixed up with Bellatrix Lestrange. Beatrice is a completely different character. I put her as a younger cousin or sister of Rodolphus Lestrange ,whom Bellatrix married.


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